By JONAH LOSSIAH
One Feather Reporter
Tribal Council Representative Dennis ‘Bill’ Taylor (Wolftown) faces three charges following an alleged incident with his wife on Thursday, Oct. 6.
A warrant was filed for Taylor that same day and he was held for 72 hours starting on Oct. 7. An arraignment hearing took place on Monday, Oct. 10, where Taylor was released on a $5,000 unsecured bond. Barbara Parker was presiding as the judge for this hearing.
The three charges are for domestic violence (Cherokee Code 14-40.1), assault with a deadly weapon (Cherokee Code 14-40.55), and reckless endangerment (Cherokee Code 14-40.64). These charges are under case numbers 22CR9853, 22CR9854, and 22CR9855 respectively. The detail of these violations can be found in Article IX of the Cherokee Code.
Taylor entered a plea of ‘not guilty’ for these charges.
The Cherokee One Feather has requested the incident report from the Cherokee Indian Police Department but was denied because ‘this incident is under investigation and the incident report will not be released at this time.’
The criminal complaints for each charge were provided by Cherokee Court, and these offer some detail into the events that led to the arrest warrant being issued.
The charge for domestic violence states the following:
‘Taylor did engage in a domestic dispute with victim, Katrina Taylor, resulting in him using/operating his vehicle to strike the vehicle being operated by Katrina Taylor. Katrina Taylor was attempting to get away from Dennis Taylor when the strike occurred and both vehicles were in motion.’
For assault with a deadly weapon:
‘Taylor used his truck to strike the vehicle operated by Katrina Taylor. Katrina was attempting to get away from Dennis after a domestic dispute. Both vehicles were in motion. Such force was used during the impact that the vehicle she was driving was disabled and sustained damage to the rear passenger bumper and tire. Dennis Taylor’s vehicle was also heavily damaged due to the impact.
Finally, for reckless endangerment:
‘Taylor knowingly and willingly operated his vehicle in a reckless manner as such to disable or stop Katrina Taylor from getting away from him after a domestic dispute. Dennis Taylor did this while both vehicles were in motion. After striking Katrina’s vehicle with his truck, Dennis Taylor fled the scene.’
Taylor will be represented by attorney Leo Phillips. The defense said that they would look to provide a more detailed statement after this week due to the news of the passing of Tribal Council member Tommye Saunooke.
“For this week, [Mr. Taylor] just wanted to let everyone know he wanted to be respectful for the Saunooke family. He’s sorry what this has caused with this accident, but he is in compliance with the court order at this point,” said Phillips.
The Cherokee One Feather also spoke with EBCI Attorney General Michael McConnell on the matter, who stated that his office would not provide any comment at this time as to not ‘jeopardize either the prosecution or the defense.’
Upon release, the Cherokee Court ordered that Taylor attend each subsequent court date and adhere to the following list of restrictions:
- Defendant is to stay away from the home, school, business or place of employment of the alleged victim and/or, other members of the household or family, as well as any healthcare facility, while the victim is a victim’s resident/patient at that facility: Defendant is to refrain from harassing annoying, telephoning, contacting or otherwise communicating with the alleged victim, or family member of the victim either directly or indirectly.
- Defendant is prohibited from using or possessing a firearm or any other weapon.
- Defendant is prohibited from possessing or consuming alcohol or controlled substances without a prescription in the name of the Defendant.
- Defendant is not to violate the laws of this or any other jurisdiction.
The next court date for EBCI vs. Dennis Edward Taylor is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 18. The Cherokee One Feather will continue to provide updates as the case progresses.
It should be noted the defendant has only been charged with the crimes listed and should be presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
